Developing Skills For Purchasing Photographs
An Art Fair is a great place to find up and coming artists. At many, the creator of the art are vetted by gallery owners. Here the value of the art may still vary wildly, but the artist has found someone that has done due diligence on them. Other Art Fairs may be open to anyone willing to pay for a spot. With the advent of digital technologies nearly anyone can become a vendor of their work Regardless of the quality of the photograph, there are other factors that should be examined or the purchased photograph may fade away in a year or so. The buyer need be aware. Here are some suggestions when looking at photographic prints.
First and foremost; do you like it? Don’t invest too much time analyzing why something is appealing. Maybe the boulder looks like Aunt Annie’s backside; making that connection might ruin the warm fuzzy feeling. Art is personal. If it is a major investment, a second visit might be needed to make sure it wasn’t just the enchilada and margarita doing its magic.
Once enamored by a piece there are a couple issues that should be asked. discovering the medium is essential. Was the picture shot with a digital or film important thing if it’s not film, then it’s digital. There are a multitude of printers and scores of paper that can be used for digital prints. Up until several years ago most papers suffered from image fade. The quality of desktop devices and papers has improved and now images can last from 15 to over 100 years typically displayed. Is the photographer knowledgeable about printing machines and paper quality?
This leads to several important questions. Is it a pigment based print or a dye based print? Pigment fades less in light and is more durable Dye-based prints tend to bleed and run less improving.
What type of paper is the photograph printed on. Usually the ink or pigment is designed to work best with a certain paper and printer. These are issues the photographer should understand. If he or she can’t coherently discuss the longevity issue, Reconsider purchasing.
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